Mudra Moods

Step into the world of Indian dance, where movements and mudras (gestures) come together with moods and mythology to weave stories. To make the stories come to life, whether through Bollywood, classical, or folk dance, this ancient technique of expressing meaning with our hands, is always combined with subtle expressions, facial nuances, is both symbolic and playful. It allows us to connect with nature and our own emotions on a deeper, more poetic level. Explore the hidden meanings of mudras to create stories through the expressive power of movement and gesture.

Janhavi Dhamankar is a performer and teacher of Indian classical, folk as well as Bollywood dance styles. She trained in Odissi (Indian classical dance) under the rigorous Guru-shishya tradition for over 20 years. She has performed solo, duets and group folk, classical as well as Bollywood dances in numerous festivals in India, Dubai, Germany, Austria. She regularly conducts workshops and training classes in all these dance styles in Vienna. 

She completed her B.A. and M.A. (Philosophy) from Pune University and MPhil from K. U. Leuven, Belgium. Having presented at many international conferences and awarded residencies in India and Oxford, she explored the Philosophical underpinnings of Social Sculpture under Shelley Sacks. Since 2012, she has been a Visiting lecturer of Philosophy, Ethics and Aesthetics at Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts, Symbiosis Law School, FLAME, College of Engineering Pune. Her recent publications include Empathy-in-Practice: A Method for Artistic Research? in Artistic research: Is there some Method? and a collectively authored piece What is Refugee in Crisis/Krisis, Performance Philosophy, special edition. 

Combining her academic and varied artistic styles, she has conducted movement workshops in Weimar, Copenhagen and Goethean Observation workshops at Woodstock School Mussoorie and ACCEL, Bangalore, India. She worked as the Editor and Content Generator for Pune Biennale 2017. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Artistic Research at the Kunst Universität, Graz. As part of her research, she is conducting an Art & Empathy lab online in co-operation with Tanz die Toleranz, Vienna.